Client Story: Holding on to Hope
One man’s journey through detention — and the power of a single conversation with ILAP’s detention attorney.
Across the country, and here in Maine, the landscape of immigration enforcement has shifted sharply. Under the Trump administration, enforcement actions are expanding broadly and indiscriminately, targeting immigrant communities and disregarding rights that belong to all of us in the United States.
Detention doesn’t just happen to individuals — it reverberates through entire families and communities. When ILAP helps one person, it helps their children, their parents, their coworkers, and everyone who depends on them. Every act of support helps restore stability and hope far beyond one person’s release.
In the U.S. immigration system, no one is guaranteed an attorney — including people who have been detained and are facing the possibility of deportation and family separation. As detention attorney Lia explains, “ILAP believes everyone facing these dire circumstances should have an attorney by their side. Safety should never be cost prohibitive.”
“ILAP believes everyone facing these dire circumstances should have an attorney by their side. Safety should never be cost prohibitive.”
— Detention Project Attorney Lia
For Bertrand*, that support made all the difference.
When he first arrived in Maine, Bertrand had a clear vision for his future. He was studying at community college, building stability, and preparing to bring his two children from Africa to join him. “Everything was going well,” he recalls.
Then, unexpectedly, he was detained by immigration officials.
“When I spoke with the ILAP attorney, she gave me all the information I needed ... That conversation gave me relief — gave me hope. For the first time, I could breathe. I knew someone was on my side.”
- ILAP Client Bertrand
“It was an experience I had never had in my life,” he says. “They treated me like a criminal, and that hurt.” He spent more than 50 days in detention. “Inside, it was very difficult. My mental health was low. I only thought of my family.”
While detained, Bertrand also witnessed the quiet devastation facing others. “Every day I saw fathers crying because they knew they would be deported,” he says. “Families being divided, people treated like they don’t matter. It’s not right.”
Detention stripped away much of what he had worked for: his studies, his work, his apartment, his car — but not his resolve. “I kept my head up. I knew who I was.”
A tablet in the facility allowed him to call his small children every day. “That’s what kept me standing,” he says.
Still, uncertainty weighed heavily. His asylum case was in progress, but he had little access to updates. “I was very afraid of being deported,” he says. “Afraid of losing my future before I even had the chance to reach it.”
Then came one conversation that shifted everything.
Through ILAP, Bertrand met with Attorney Lia for a brief consultation. “She gave me all the information I needed,” he says. “I asked her more than twenty questions, and she answered every one. That conversation gave me relief — gave me hope. For the first time, I could breathe. I knew someone was on my side.”
ILAP’s support helped him find a path toward stability again. With legal guidance, Bertrand took the steps needed to be released and slowly began to rebuild his life. “I know who I am,” he says. “I’ve kept my head high. I’m reading more, talking with wise people, working to be part of the community. I even recovered my apartment. Step by step, things are getting better.”
When he reflects on his experience with ILAP, what he feels most strongly is trust.
“ILAP is doing an incredible job helping immigrants. Please, continue this work. There are so many people who need support to understand the process. That support can change a life.”
*Name changed to protect identity
